Improved machine for covering wire with gutta-percha, rubber



PATENTED 1320.9, 1862.

, r. SAULT- 4 MACHINE FOR. covs'nms WIRE WITH GUTTA PERGHA, RUBBER, 6:0.

1H5 NORRIS PETER: cc, \vasmnarou, a. c.

To all whom it may concern:

section of a machine for covering telegraph- UNITED STATES PATENT -OFFICE.

THOMAS SAULT, 0F SEYMOUR, ooNnEorIcUT.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 37,112, dated December 9, 1862.

Beit knownthat I,THOMAS SAULT,ot' Seymour, in the county of New Haven and State of Gonnecticut,have invented certain new and useful improvements in machineryfor covering wire with caoutchouc, gutta-percha, or compounds thereof, and for manufacturing other articles of such gums or compounds; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,

and exact description of .the same, reference beinghad tothe accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which-- Figure 1 is a central longitudinal vertical wire, having-my improvements. Fig.2 is a horizontal section of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the same in the plane indi-- cated by the line mm, Fig. 2.v

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures. k

The main object of these improvements is to eifectthe covering of wire of any length with caoutchouc, gutta-percha, or their allied gums, or compounds thereof, or the manizfacture of tubing of any length of such gums or compounds by an uninterrupted operation.

The principal portion of the machinery to which the improvements relate consists of a screw working in the bore of a cylinder, into which the gum is fed, and from which it is forced by the screw through or into a die of the necessary size and form to produce the ex-'.

'terior of the covering, tube, or other article to be manufactured. For the covering of wire or the manufacture of tubing the screw is made hollow for the rece tion of a mandrel, through which the wire to e covered passes, or upon which the interior of the tubing is formed, and it is the combination of the mandrel with the so-applied screw and'cylinder that one part of the invention consists.

Another improvement consists in a peculiar construction of the'cylinder, whereby it is enabled to be supplied with gum without stopping the operation of the screw, and thereby .enabled to operate continuously tomake a tube or cover a wire of any length, or to fill a mold of any'size. 1

A further improvement consists in feeding the wire tobe covered with the gum by the action of the aforesaid screw or other forcing apparatus upon the gum itself.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the cylinder, andB is the screw which works within it. The said cylinder, which is arranged horizontally and secured on a suitable bed, D, should be made of wrought-iron, or of othermetal of sufficient thickness to give it the requisite strength to sustain a heavy pressure.

Figs. 1 and 2; but the remainder of its interior is parallel-sided and truly cylindrical, except that in one side, near its rear end, there'is formed a cavity, 1), which communicates with' a throat, c, in the upper part. This cavity b is nearly concentric with the axis of the cylinder, and extends about one-third of the dis tance around it. The screw B is of such circumference that the tops of its threads will fit. snugly. but easily within the parallel portion of the cylinder, and its shaft or core is extended through a bearing, d, in the rear end of the cylinder and is continued some distance in front of the thread and there tapered, as shown at e in Figs. 1 and 2 to correspond or nearly corre spend with the taper of the portion a a of the cylinder, having no hearing at its front end, buthaving a clear spare all around it for the passage of the gum. The profile of the front face of the screw-thread is perpendicular tothe axis of the screw, like that of any ordinary "square-threaded screw; but the back of the said thread is beveled. The shaft of the said screw has firmly secured on its rear end a worm-gear, E, which. gears with an endless gear, F, on a horizontal shaft, G, which works above the said gear in hearings in standards H H, erected upon the bed 1), the said shaft serving for the application of the power necessary to turn the screw B to make it force thegum through the cylinder A and die 0. The cylinder is made of two pieces screwed together, as shown at kit, to enable it to be taken apartfor the introduction of the screw .13.

I is the mandrel, made hollow for the pas- Its front portion, to which the die 0 C is attached, is constructed of a form some what resembling a syringe,as shown at a win with the surroundi u g part of the taper portion a a of thecylinder. The'por-tion of the said mandrel which protrudes through the rear end of the shaft of the screw B is partly filled with a sleeve, g, which isfitted into a box, h, bolted f v to the bed-plate, and behind the said sleeve the said mandrel is clamped in abo'zr, z, and by those means it is held securely in a position concentric with the cylinder A. The front end of the sleeve gservcsas a bearing for the -rear end of the shaft of the screw B, to receive the thrust thereof, and in order to providefor the proper adjustment of the said bearin g the front portion of the said. sleeve has out upon it ascrew-thread, which receives a nut, j, which is held back against the box h by thethrust of the screw B against the sleeve.

The portion of the cylinderA in frontof the throat 0 and cavity B is surrounded with a jack et, J, for the reception of steam or hot-water,'by which to heat the gum contained in the cylinder to a desirable temperature for working. The die 0 at the end of the cylinder is of the same size internally as the intended size of the exterior of the covering of the wire, and the said die is capable of being unscrewed from the cylinder to permit the substitution of others of different sizes, according to the desired size of the exterior of the gumcovering.

Wire to be covered with vulcanized gum by this machinery, if of copper, should be previ-.

ously tinned or coated with some substance upon which sulphur does not act, to protect it against the action of the sulphur employed in vulcanization. The wire is to be supplied to the machine from a reel and led over-a guide pulley, on which is placed afriction-biake to ,regulate the proper degree of tension with which it enters the machine. The mandrel I is adjusted with itstaper pointiu such rela-' tion to the taper part a. ot. the cylinder as to leave a space between them for the passage of the gum in proportion to the size of the die 0 and of the wireand the thickness of thecovering of gum required.

The operation of covering wire by thismachinery is as follows: The gum, havingbeen first ground and either composted with sulphur or not, according as it is to be vulcanized orn'ot, by means of the ordinary heated rollers or grinders, in the manner commonly prac ticed in the indie-rubber manufacture, and while yet warm, is rolled up into rolls of suitable size to enter the'throat 0, and so introduced into the cylinder, which is heated to a desirable temperature by means of the steam or water inthe jaclget J. When the cylinder has been filled by turning the screw B in the during the period of vulcanization.

direction of the arrows shown in Fig. 2, and so,

causingthe'said screw to feed the gum forward as fast as it is introduced thereinto, the end .of the wire is introduced through the. hollow mandrel I, through the'rear end thereof, until responding motionto the screw B, which is thus made to,com press and feed the gum steadily forward'in the cylinder and around the end of the mandrel, .and force it into and through the die 0, causing it in its passage to envelope and carry forward the wire, which issues from the die properly covered.v The covered wire may be received upon an endless apron or band, which, if the covering is who vulcanized, carries it to a cylinder, around which there is formed a series of halt tubes or molds, arranged spirally or in screw-form, which cylinder, when filled, has the wire upon it cutoff, and is placed in the heater in which the vulcanizing process is completed. During the operation of the machine gum may be introduced to the cylinder through the throat c and into the cavity b as often as may be necessarywithout stopping the operation of the machine, as the gum so introduced is caught by the thread of the screw, as it passes the cavity 1), and carried forward through the cylinder, and hence the operation is made perfectly continuous and a piece of wire of any length may. be cov. ered. i

When-it is desired to make tubes or hoes a die, (J, of proper size, is placed on the machine, and amandrel slightly larger-than the ho'lew'required in thetube is run through the hollow mandrel I and allowed to project, say, one-quarter of an inch beyond the end or external orifice of the die, and there held central 1 and stationary while the gum is forced through the annular space between it. and the die to form the tube or hose, I find in the case of gum which requires vulcanizing it is best to charge or fill the tube or hosewith pulverized soapstone, plumbago, or any other substance that willdistend it, and so keep it in shape Ifit is required to line the tube with cloth, it requires the hollow mandrel to be oi" an internal diameter as much larger than the exterior of the inner mandrel above mentioned as the thickness of the c1oth, and' the cloth in the form of a ribbon is passed between the two mandrels at the rear of the cylinder, where the mandrel is secured in the same manner as the hollow one at a point in rear of the latter,-leaving the space between them open. Articles of any otherform may be used by substitntin g dies of suitable form for the dies (J; and in makingsome articles themandrel may not be necessary. What'I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isp 1 1. The-combination of acylinder, A, a hollow screw, B, and a central mandrel, 0, passing through the hollow screw, substantially as herein specified.

2; The construction of the cylinder A, con

taining the screw B, with a. threat, 0, and in; teruel cavity, b, arranged substantially as andfor the purpose specified. 1

3. Feeding the wire to be covered.- with the gum by the movement of the gum itself, produced by the screw B or other devicefor forcing; it through the forming-die, substantially as herein specified. 1

THOMAS SAULT. Witnesses: v

AUSTIN G. DAY,

HENRY BRADLEY. 

